Menu

For an international student, bureaucracy sometime becomes a backstop for education. Well, this is my story dealing with YÖK (Yükseköğretim Kurulu) or Higher Education Council of Turkey. My experience is quite rare actually because I’ve never met any other students –Indonesian or other nationality- shared the same problem. Let me cut the crap and straight to the story!

It was one sunny afternoon on May 26, 2017, when I received an email to ask me coming to the Graduate office of my university. I was about to lay down on my bed because I just arrived from campus attending a seminar. Then, placing a call to the institute secretary was my option. I mean, I fell tired and going back to campus was a burdensome. But, I smelled something fishy after she answered my why question with “it’s better if you just come here and we can talk”. Without wasting any second, I grabbed my bag and went out.

Long story shorted, I sat in her office and heard the most shocking news.

“Amdya, did you remember that we enlist every international students to YÖK?”

“Yes. I did. It is compulsory, as far as I can remember. Do I have a problem?”

“Your university in Indonesia is not on YÖK’s list. We’ve just received the letter.”

“And?”

“You can’t continue your master in Turkey.”

“What do you mean? I’m granted a scholarship from TUBITAK and I’m accepted in this university. How can you say that I can’t continue my education?”

“Every international students’ universities outside Turkey should be in the list of YÖK. If not, there is nothing you can do.”

“Wait! I have three other friends from the same university and the same program with me back in Indonesia. They have no problem with YÖK at all and now they are still enlisted as a student in three different university in Turkey. And, now me? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“To be honest, there is nothing you can do.” In Turkish: yapacak bir şey yok. When this words came out from any other Turks, please never lose hope.

“What option do I have?” I knew that complaining to her would just cost me another time to be wasted.

“You can finish one semester here and get a transcript for that as a guest student or you can finish the two semesters also as a guest student. But if you don’t want, we can give you a student certificate explaining you’re here for a semester. The thing is, there will be no diploma for you.”

That was when my journey began. I explained everything with my husband (at the time he was my very close one and he was in Ankara). He arranged me tickets and picked me up. With all those sadness, I went to YÖK office in Ankara. I asked to meet the one who signed the letter but apparently it was signed by the general secretary and there was no way for me to meet him. Thus, we went through all the process to set a schedule to meet him which was never happened.

Gaining information here and there, the officers asked us to fill the petition (in Turkish: dilekçe) to manually register myself to be able to enlisted under YÖK. This process was compulsory for foreign master student. But, later we realized that that was not the problem. The problem was my previous university in Indonesia, Hasanuddin University, was not on the list of YÖK.

The day was very hard for me, and for him too. We decided to go back tomorrow to see how far we’ve progressed and what else we could do. The next day, there was a new positive way out. I could manually enlist Hasanuddin University to the YÖK list. I took all the information from the authorized personnel and started to contact anyone in Hasanuddin University, including my lecturer and international office staff, to initiate the process. Indonesian Embassy in Ankara was our next destination, hoping that we could get any help from there. But, apparently they couldn’t do much. They promised us to follow up and speed up the process once we started initial step.

Fortunately, the international office staff of Hasanuddin University gave a fast response and was ready for the whole process. It was also because of my lecturer’s help who went to the rectorate office explaining my condition. Unfortunately, it would take a long time. The letter should be prepared by Hasanuddin University, sent to and legalized in Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Indonesian Embassy in Turkey, then sent to and legalized in Turkish Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before sent to YÖK for the approval.

Then, I ensured that I was in the right track by confirming it to my institute secretary and the upcoming news was shocking again. She said that I just had time until the next registration term in September, meant that I just had three months left to complete the progress before September. Being desperate, I contacted all my professors, including my advisor, explaining my recent condition and insisting that this would be over soon. In my deepest heart, I fell that I won’t be able to have it done by the mentioned time.

Still, I had no other choice than do what I should do that time. Thus, I prepared for the worst case scenario: say goodbye to Istanbul before even 2 years. But I didn’t want to get back to Indonesia with a shameful face. Even I explained to the world my problem was, there will be no warm welcome or soothe words to burn my spirit again. So, I searched any other opportunity that I could get in other country: being a scholarship hunter again. Thankfully, one of my professor was ready to equip me with a good recommendation and with that, I thought I was ready for the hunting session.

One day after I went back to Istanbul, my husband went to YÖK office to ensure the progress and ask some queries. Then, this extraordinary drama happened. One of the officers, perhaps she was irritated by my husband’s queries, asked my husband to enter her room and look up at her computer saying “just search her university here in the list.”

And you know what my husband found?

HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY MAKASSAR was on the list.

My university was there.

Unbelievable. It was insane. Really! I couldn’t think more. A human error. Really?

Then, with joyful face my husband said to her that my university was there and that HASANUDDIN UNIVERSITY MAKASSAR was my university.

Long story shorted, she then prepared a letter to correct the decision. My husband also asked her to call Bilgi University institute secretary to confirm this mistake.

Yes, I’ve been released since the day I heard this bad news. For the first time I could smile and sleep well.

I was waiting my advisor when my husband called me explaining all these dramas. Nothing I did but crying, yes… I barely realized that I was crying when he phoned me. It was a pain relieve. It was a grateful tears.

But on top of everything, it was a question: why they were so incompetent? Didn’t they realize that they almost send me back home only for a human error? The YÖK was the higher council for the education. How could those people ‘easily’ do their job? I was afraid that I wasn’t the only one. I was frightened what would happen if I didn’t fight for this. I was wondering what would happen if this ‘yapacak bir şey yok’ stuck in my head and I followed it innocently because I thought I wouldn’t be able to win against the YÖK, let alone the bureaucracy.

Those thought came up after I almost gave up.

This story, indeed, was a gift for me. A very precious gift that made me learn a lot: that I should never give up even the universe forced you to do so. It made me believe that there will be a guardian angel that God sent for you to get through all of these. I was very grateful for every single particular events.

This is why I’ve told you that for me Turkey is full of surprise. No wonder I was in love-hate relationship with it. I have a lot of reasons thou. So, just bear with me if you still wonder what happened during my engaged time in Istanbul.

Here, I’m not playing victim. Being a victim is just a matter of perspective. You could bother or be bothered, it’s depend on how you see yourself and where.

If I say: to be honest, I could say I have a lot of things to be shown off if I want. I have a good life with a loving husband and family, nice long last friendships, a kind-hearted boss and a well-paid job, a good education background, a strong personality, and many more that I can manifest into Instagram posts and get admiration for those.

Then, if you read my last paragraph and imagine that I post everything that I have in my Instagram page, would you consider me as an inspiring person despite my dictions? If you have a pure heart (or innocent thought) perhaps you’d say yes I’m inspiration. You will try to copy my life and set your life goal as what I’ve shown. Then, at the very basic you just have to realize that everyone is different. You can’t be me and neither can I. Being inspired is good and being an inspiration is better. But look, it will drive us into some part of deeper relations in an unrealistic world.

Here is the thing, being able to post something magnificent in a social media will cost you a dependency. You will be encouraging yourself to post more and more. People giving you an accomplishment for what you’ve posted is something that will make your day. In a long run, you’ll be exhausted to fulfill everyone’s wit. How if you stop to be inspiring, one day you feel tired and decide to rest, people will mock. And, you couldn’t blame them for that. Your followers never been wronged. Or the worst thing is, you will be addicted to be a part of the never-end circle of social media trend like once you’re in no way out. It is sound like a horror-thriller movie, isn’t it?

In this post, I may sound sarcastic again. But, the thing is I’m kind of sick of what I’ve seen in my Instagram. I need it to be connected due to my actual distance from most of my family and friends. I need it to be able to see what’s going on, yes I want to be updated also for sure. But then I just realized that everything has two sides. Take it or leave it. And for now, I choose to take it. Leaving it may become an option for undecided time frame.

I know that some of you positioning yourself in mine. Being so sarcastic and a coward in the same time regarding this issue. Some of you may blame my words and consider it as a very insulting and wiseacre person. I could fully understand all those thoughts and I am still being irritated with the way people think. Unfortunately, I could barely stand with that because I still have other persons with the same frequency with me toughen each other.

For those who consider themselves as an inspiration and keep inspiring people with what they believe as an inspiration, I’m not cursing or blaming you all. I just want to let you know that there are people out there, like me, who feel very poor with the recent condition of what you consider as inspiring.

My husband once told me to leave behind those kind of immature people and asked me why I don’t show off what I have. My answer is, I don’t want to be addicted like those kind of likely-inspiring persons, that I’m afraid I will turn out be like them and I won’t be able to stop myself. I just have a different wit with them.

What, where, and how you will get education is the question that should remain in ourselves. None of us, women and men, wants to be left behind because our lack of education. The thing is, what makes you being educated?

Sorry if my question is quite sarcastic. I was just amazed with how the education could put an extra label on someone. Like, oh that woman is high-educated. Or, oh that woman is a good catch (because she holds a good education level). Well, it is more than that.

The education is not only about the label that you’ve had. Being able to understand the life meaning is one of education is for. I don’t try to sound more philosophically here, I just try to seek the reason why does a person really glory herself because she is ‘high-educated’. This notion bothers me lately.

Okay, let’s start with number. In Indonesia, according to the latest census by national statistical institute (2010), only a slight differences between male and female in obtaining a higher degree in urban area (11.20% male and 10.24 female) and in rural area (2.95% male and 2.9% female). See? Despite the low number compared to Indonesia’s whole population, there is no lagging behind anymore. Or at least women are running fast creating a way for their own in education level.

So, forget the number! I don’t really like the number thou.

Back to the first question, what makes you being educated? A degree you’ve obtained by the class you attended and grades you got? Or by your attitude?

Education is much related with attitude, as far as I believe. A well-educated person could perform a good behavior according to time and place she is in regards with her quality. Apparently, it doesn’t seem so smooth this far. I mean, I’ve seen a bunch of ‘self-proclaimed high-educated’ people don’t behave like what their education require. But yes, forgive me if I’m wrong that in-class education is not eligible to determine a behavior of a person. Yes, I believe that too anyway.

Perhaps I’ve been running around in this post, you may get confused by now.

I just don’t understand why there is a very proud person when she has a higher level of education compared to other people. Still don’t get it?

I point this out to those people out there with a very good education level and ‘less-good’ behavior. It is good that you have the chance to enjoy your education with ups and downs when not everyone has. It is not a sin that you play the ‘innocent’ role who needs people to recognize your ‘achievement’ as a nice high-educated person. The thing is, why do you do it?

A well-educated person will see herself as a person who always need to dig more. Not seeking for an accomplishment. Being a small-minded person while having a very good educational background seems like a deterioration for that person, right? Please, when you already have a degree or two, why don’t make yourself a classy person by not driving yourself down with your ‘unintelligent’ behavior? Don’t you realize that, out there, there are a lot of people who hold more than you have but they behave very decent and modest?

I believe that modesty will set your class and within your good degree you will be become classy. Seeking for an accomplishment, somewhat sometime, is something that in reverse will make people see you as an immature-thought type of person. You think that what are you doing will award you a class, but it’s the opposite. Instead of giving an accomplishment, people will examine you with a question: is this how a well-educated person should behave?

It’s too soon. I would never forgive myself if I don’t push you back. So, I choose to live with the regret of letting you spitting your apology.

“I was insane. I don’t know what to do. She took all my life in a second. That I should’ve told you from the very first, I have a twin. Like before he took his own life, he had this girl and a baby.”

Again. Hold on.

“So this girl came, with teary eyed and a red baby in her arms, asking me to take care of them. My decease twin passed me a thing that never been mine: his responsibility. I was speechless, Nina. Believe me.”

Wait. There are a lot of things that couldn’t fit in my head. A twin. A decease twin. A twin’s girlfriend with a baby. A twin’s girlfriend with a baby coming to him asking a responsibility.

Well, slow down.

“Then, I refused. All I could think about is you, my future. But the next day, she put a note on my desk that she wouldn’t bother to kill the baby then kill herself if I didn’t change my mind.”

“But why didn’t you tell me? How could I not know that you had a twin. We’ve been together in years. How could you hide it?”

“Because I don’t want you be hurt this way. I know it is cliché. I know it is bad. Very. But I couldn’t think at the time, Nina. I just don’t want to lose you but apparently you’re gone.”

“No. I wasn’t gone. It was you.”

The chilly wind blows my hairs and it strikes me to the reality.

“I just want you to understand me, Nina.”

“That is a huge demand.”

“I know. I know. I couldn’t ask anything. But, let me ask for once. She was insane. I could understand how my twin finally chosen to say goodbye to this world and everything. It is better than stay with her.”

Now, you put something in my wit.

“I am listening.”

You stopped. Then I realized, we’ve arrived in my front door apartment building. Okay, let’s end tonight here. Maybe tomorrow. I will need an extra sleep to ensure this is not a dream, to decide that whether it is a good or bad.

Last month was so hectic. It’s a good thing to know that I am now able to get together with my husband in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Well, I’ve got the visa. I was applying the visa from Indonesia and it’s not a fast process thou. I’ve been waiting for almost two months. Have to admit that that country is quite strict for visa issuing. In this post, I’d like to share on how to get spouse visa for KSA.

My husband is a student in KAUST. Since, he was graduated from Turkish university, he had to maintain stamps from KSA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education in Turkey on his diploma. To get that, he had to get back to Turkey as well. Yet, he didn’t. His master diploma was refused since he didn’t have those stamps. As he got admitted in KAUST with his bachelor diploma, in which he already got those two requirement stamps, he was allowed to use its making an application for a calling visa. This calling visa is highly required for me to get an actual visa on my passport. Actually, this process took almost two months.

What do you need is to provide:

A calling visa

A passport with expire date no less than six months on the date you apply the visa

A copy of your sponsor’s (spouse) residence permit

A copy of certificate of marriage

A certified translation of certificate of marriage, a translation issued in KSA will be rejected and you should provide a translation made in the country where you are applying the visa

A medical check up result

After obtaining all of these requirements, I went to the visa agency and paid around SAR 2,660 or IDR 9,500,000. For the medical check up, I spent around SAR 364 or IDR 1,300,000 in an appointed private medical centre named Salamat Medical Centre in South Jakarta. It was Tuesday afternoon I applied and my visa was done by Thursday afternoon. I get a single entry for 90 days stay. It’s a plenty of time to apply for a residence permit here.

The agency was good and fast. The problem was in the initial process in KSA in issuing a calling visa. After getting this, you would be having no problem anymore. Except, if you have an issue in your medical result.

I hope this information is helpful enough. Just drop me an email for another questions that perhaps I could answer regarding this post. (:

I have been living in Istanbul, Turkey, since February 2015. It’s then almost two years. apparently, being able to survive in here is quite a hard work in terms of the acceptance in culture balancing. Yet, I don’t bother living here for years more. Its just a matter of security and high level of politics life here that play as a huge consideration for me to leave this beautiful country as soon as I can.

Well, it’s so common nowadays living abroad. Moving overseas could be seen as a phenomenon that raise my awareness to be studied. Yet this post would openly show the less serious part of being a migrant or let’s make it more casual: a foreigner.

What comes first is you should educate yourself.

It is recommended to know every possible important thing about the country that you are moving to. For me as an Asian, moving to Turkey is perhaps a challenge in the sense of cultural differences. Its language, politics, social norms, and religion are different with my motherland, Indonesia. Arming yourself with a plenty information regarding your destination country should be put on top of your to-do list before your departure date. Also, keep gaining this from sources that you could seize: internet and people who are there or were there. It could help you seeing the possibility of your life and another point of view that someday would be helpful for you.

It is the language you should know (or learn).

Merhaba! It’s a Turkish’s good morning, good day, good afternoon, and hi. Turkish language is acclaimed as one of the most difficult languages in the world. Yes, indeed. But it is not that difficult if you already know its language or eager to learn it. So, put it in the first place that being able to communicate with the local language would be your most benefited skill. In Turkey, if you are a foreigner and could speak Turkish, you may get a lot of smiles and help from the natives. Then, before you move its better to learn at least very basic daily life conversation in order to make yourself first acceptable. Indeed, body language is one that people will use to be able to communicate with other people with a different language. But most of time in Turkey, they will take you for granted and see you as an idiot if you are not able to understand Turkish. They will not give you their attention. So, how could you ask for help –in every single way- if you could not have their attention? And oh, don’t be afraid making mistake! They will try to understand that you are trying and for that they will appreciate your effort. If you are lucky enough, they will give their heart once you attempt to communicate with their language.

The social norms and politic life.

These two common things should you be aware of. For me, it took months to really understand how these Turkish people live their life. Politically they are so active and I could say they are politically educated as well. How they separate their life aspects: religion, social, economy, and politics is a crystal clear. You may find Turkish people are so integrated in politic sense. Yet, they could perfectly disintegrate their ‘other’ life with politic. You might have a debate with your Turkish friends regarding their political view in the classroom or coffee table, but crossing the door that issue is vanished. This is one of things I like from them. I haven’t find a punch in the face because one defends one.

So to speak, the social life comes very liberal. As what I have wrote in my other post, in Istanbul you can easily find lovebirds. They are everywhere. Living together without marriage bond is never bothering while in Indonesia I will be punished with public and state law if I do. Public Display of Affection (PDA) is a very common thing. Thus, when you feel bothered by that and show your dislike you could be judged as a hypocrite or too-religious-to-live. So, stay cool!

The availability of food that suits your appetite is a rare thing that you may have. For me, until I have this magical help –a rice cooker- I desperately crave for only junk food. Luckily, in Istanbul the food is all halal. But, what if you are moving to a non halal-friendly country? You should pack and stock yours as much as you can. Although this is not so suggested because if you will live for months or years its you who is tortured. You won’t save your baggage for those foods only, right? Be wise, you are going to suffer if you could not bear with local food. I could tell that.

What I am trying to explain is, start develop a new level of open-mindness. Everything you see and experience is a new thing for you. Thus, deal with it with your open mind. If you are not accepting this, your life will be so damn miserable and full of stress. Something you don’t want, huh?

Then, try to not have expectation in hands. I know it is a kind of excitement that now you are about to experience: a new phase of life that not everybody could. A wise proverb once says that a disappointment comes from the expectation. Try to rely on your information you have gathered before. It will help you shaping your new life abroad by embracing it and living with it to the fullest. Of course I am not saying to not to hope, but it’s different between expectation and hope.

So you should make friends as many as you can. Why? Because apart from your family, its your friends will take care of you if you are in trouble. Of course our embassy and general consulate will. Yet we, as an expat, should try to be more active in gaining acquaintance or become a part of a good circle. Not to hope they will take care us like our family will, but to at least lend a helping hand in case we are not able to get out of the trouble we may face alone.

The last but not least, don’t take it as a burden! Its the new chapter that you should explore and discover. Don’t lose yourself inside the local culture! Try to adapt with its value and norms. If it doesn’t fit you by your faith or heart, then you could stand with your dignity but still show your respect at best.

We then walk in silence, holding hands. I couldn’t draw my hands of yours. That I think its fit perfectly. With the warmth of you beside me, my memory flew back years ago. Our days were so perfect and everything went good until that day, a woman who cut the loose came. Taking you away and leaving me heartache forever. It was that simple, you went away.

Now that you come again. All my fortresses are freezing into an ice and I am skating on that thin ice. Before, the itch was something easy to scratch and you changed everything.

“I don’t know why I left.” You start with words I prefer left unspoken.

Keep silent is my choice. I would never want to hurt myself by giving you any chance to make it verbal. I want you to put it –whatever you may say it, there far the day you went away.

“But I know.” Then, I stop walking not loosening my hands. I want you to see me in the eyes. Directly.

“Yeah, it was so clear anyway. I know I won’t be forgiven. I don’t ask for another chance either.” Your gaze stops at mine, looking for something you may find. A madness. Tears.

“I believe you did. Giving you chance will also cost me another wound that I perhaps can’t deal with.” I better kill myself rather than giving you a shot to shot me in the heart with all your capabilities letting me down.

“I am sorry.”

I then continue to walk, still with your hands holding mine. I don’t want to bother myself to ask this and that, questions remain unanswered. No, they are all answered by my analysis as someone who hurts to the bone.

“Nina,” The way you spell my name, I really hate to admit that I miss it so much. “I don’t know how to start this over again because I don’t know if its okay to start it.”

“Don’t start anything you’ve threw! I am broken, Jem.”

I spill your name out. My defense is totally crushed tonight. Then you stop. Drawing me to your arms again, –twice tonight– and bend your head kissing me. It is a gentle kiss. Stupid, I am crying.

It has been said and done. I. Belong. To. You.

The dream of being with you forever is still there. Waking up is hard because the limbo you’ve been building since we met is the beautiful thing I have.

I live in the dream. I don’t live my life. I am zombie in a day light with routine like a human being. Inside, I am broken. Nobody noticed, but myself. How hard you have tortured me. Its my time to revenge you. But not, I don’t have energy. Furthermore, I don’t own those capabilities like you did to leave someone you love.

It is me who break the kiss. Kiss that I’ve missed. Kiss that wakes my mind.

To me, 2016 was full of things that has changed me more or less. Having a lot of decisions to be made and everything was going ups and downs. 2016 definitely gave its stroke that would be hard to forget.

Getting married was definitely not my intention in 2016, yet I did. I got married at last.

I was 25 years old when 2016 had its March. Since 2015 I’ve been living in Istanbul where I don’t think I belong there. Too many things happened there good and bad, I am aghast with Istanbul cruelty in determining who is friend or not. Then, let’s say those people don’t deserve any single sentences –but this, to be written for. Like 2016, I promise myself to let go off that irrelevant itchiness behind. I would try to be more go-ahead-no-turning-back person and less indecisive. Staying abroad, far from family, friend and food I used to be surrounded with has taught me lessons: intensifying the use of social media to communicate and cook better.

Well, back to the biggest decision I have ever made as now I have been living my life for a quarter half of a decade: marrying a man.

Knowing him for less than 3 years to finally tie the knot, I am sure that I will be definitely regretful if I didn’t. Never in my mind I will live my life seeing him happily with other woman. He is more than I deserve. Sound like I’m so in love with him? Indeed. If not then why on earth I married him? Too many things that he owns I need. His patience placed in the top of my never-will-end list. He always knows how to treat me and fulfill my irrational thought and will. So, how I think I could get another him if its not him? Even presuming it would take years. Staying in a marriage bond with him will be my lifetime resolution every year from now on.

So to speak, we only had less than a month to prepare everything for the wedding by ourselves. Well, literally it was me here in Indonesia having this and that going here and there. He was in Jeddah, crossing leg in his couch whatsapp-ing me how the preparation went. Yet, he was not. He didn’t have a plenty of time to help me, thus I summon up my squad to replace him doing his duty. Therefore, I thank my family and friends for my hectic last November. A lot. Keeping my good relationship with them definitely be my 2017 resolution

Talking about family and friends, I could say that I won’t be able to survive without them. My hard time was coming when I was in Istanbul trouble-ing myself to unnecessary thought that should be put million miles away. For those people who scratch my dignity, they are replaceable. Those kind of people would come and try to stay in my life, thus my obligation is to kick them out. Perhaps they would stay in my mind with their negativity, so I think I would give yoga a shot.

Health improvement also occupies my list for this year, I start to realize that healthy life is nothing but very important. So to decrease the minimum chance to get hospitalized or not able to live my life to the fullest, I will take everything seriously concerning healthy life. Trying this and that as a necessary tool for the good way of life.

As it might be seen, 2017 will come with its complexity. I am no longer as only a daughter or a sister, but also a wife. This year, I am planning to add a new tittle: a mother. Insha Allah.

This is my blog challenge with my lovely Meike ! Let’s spread the love together :p

I was thinking to step back when your smile filled up my brain. You know what, I’ve been busy altering my life, my future. And, simply you asked me to place you on top of my list. You asked me to make you my only one because you did the same way towards me. How dare you! Don’t you know that you already asked my only thing: my life.

Yet apparently, I did. I said a yes for it.

To bind our life together.

To be on the same road having each other.

And to abnegate our ego, okay my leviathan ego, in every possible way for one thing: a happiness.

Our path is crossing in a hallway where we shall consider as a coincidence. Anyway, I believe that there is no coincidence here and after. Thus, I see you as the way you see me. I have to admit you are so heartless dealing with my complexion making you an ace. Well, you’ve got my frailty and dealt with it victoriously. Nobody before you could step in this far.

And then you?

Why me? Why must me?

I can’t really ask. In return, I don’t have the answer.

But in the end, who need the answer of this whys? I won’t say it twice that I am really glad to have you having me like this. So, beware that our next level may be harder!